NFL reinstates Ray Rice

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By Haley Costen
Staff Writer

On Friday the NFL announced that former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice would be reinstated.

The news comes three months after video footage surfaced showing Rice knocking out his now wife Janay Rice in an Atlantic City elevator.

The NFL has agreed not to pursue any further punishment for Rice, accepting the ruling as “binding,” according to SB Nation.

Within hours of the airing of the video by TMZ on Sept. 8, the Ravens terminated Rice’s contract and insisted they had not seen the footage until TMZ released it.

The Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome however testified on Nov. 6 that Rice told NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during a discipline hearing in June that he hit Janay Rice.

Janay Rice spoke out publicly for the second time on the Today Show on Monday, saying that Rice had never been violent towards her before the elevator incident.

“He knows what he would have to deal with, you know, if this was something,” Janay Rice said. “You know, I’m not going to sit there in silence and let something happen to me — and God forbid, in front of my child, just like, let it happen? There’s no way.”

She was joined on the Today Show with Rice and her parents, Candy and Joe Palmer. Rice said he hopes any teams interested in signing him will “look deeper into who I am” and said he and Janay had “one bad night.”

“And one thing about my punishment and everything going along with anything that happened is that I’ve accepted it. I went fully forward with it. I never complained, or I never did anything like that. I took full responsibility for everything that I did, and the only thing I can hope for and wish for is a second chance,” Rice told Matt Lauer.

Since the announcement Friday four teams have expressed interest in signing Rice.

Rice has drawn the interest of the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, according to espn.com.

ESPN’s source declined to tell the site who the other two interested teams are.